Pomona Fairplex Halloween Haunts: Lights Out
Halloween 2024: Lights Out returns to the Pomona Fairplex. As with its debut in 2023, the multi-attraction haunt features mazes, a waxwork museum with classic movie monsters, a zombie shooting gallery, and live entertainment.
Dates & Hours: Fridays, Saturdays & Sundays, October 4-27, 6:30-11pm.
Tickets: $29-33 depending on date. There is also a “Boos and Brews” combo ticket granting access to Lights Out and Oktoberfest.
Parking: Price is $21.10 in advance, $25 at the gate.
Location: Pomona Fairplex – 1101 W. McKinley Avenue, Pomona, CA 91765
Website: fairplex.com/lightsout
Quick Take: The Halloween 2023 debut of Lights Out provided good scare value for their money. The old-school approach of its walkthrough mazes was hardly innovative, but it was more elaborate than the popup haunts of a decade ago. Someone looking for a pro-haunt in Los Angeles, without the baggage and expense of a theme park, should check this out, especially if they live in Pomona or San Gabriel Valley.
Pomona Fairplex Halloween Haunts Archive: Check out reviews and videos from past Halloween events at Pomona Fairplex…
Pomona Fairplex Halloween Haunts Video
Check out vides of past Halloween events at Fairplex, including Fearplex, Nightmare at Scareview Farms, and Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare…
Pomona Fairplex Halloween Haunts History
Pomona Fairplex has hosted many Halloween events. Fairplex likes to vary their events from year to year: some have been scary; some featured more of an Octoberfest vibe. Below are the major highlights from the past two decades…
Shipwreck Productions, which used to haunt the Queen Mary Terrorfest every October, presented Scareplex in 2004 and 2005. They also provided a single-maze Scare at the Fair during the annual Los Angeles Fair in September 2006. Props and sets from the Queen Mary were used, so the haunt had a familiar look.
In 2007, the company behind Spooky House and Seaside Haunt created an event called Fearplex, which ran for two years. There was some carry-over of cast members from Scareplex, but the sets and props were better. Again, there was some recycling of elements, with set pieces from Seaside Haunt clearly visible (the ocean theme was hard to miss).
2009 saw a switch to a new haunt, Nightmare at Scareview Farms, which lasted for three years, although it was rebranded as Nightmare: A Haunted Attraction in 2010 and 2011. In addition to a haunted cattle bar, the three walkthroughs (expanded to five in subsequent years) included vampires, pirates, zombies, and mummies. Unlike most haunted house attractions, Nightmare‘s walkthroughs were spacious, providing plenty of room for pirate ships and other large-scale sets. The open floor plan undercut the claustrophobic intensity but made it easier to see the decorations; the result was less scary but nonetheless fun.
The next big Halloween event at Pomona Fairplex was Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare in 2013, which featured dozens of live musical acts and three haunted house walk-throughs inspired by his work: Haunt of 1000 Corpses, The Lords of Salem, and The Haunted World of El Superbeasto 3D. The vibe was definitely rowdier than a traditional Halloween attraction but appealed well enough to its target audience to become a success. This was Great American Nightmare only Halloween at the Fairplex; it moved to other cities in 2014 and 2015 before closing. Click here to read our review of the Halloween 2013 version of Rob Zombie’s Great American Nightmare.
After a bit of a Halloween hiatus, Pomona Fairplex hosted Rise of the Jack O’Lanterns in 2016. The annual display of carved pumpkins had been better served by outdoor locations such as Descanso Gardens, but the fairgrounds provided an opportunity for Pomona residents to enjoy the artistry without a long drive.
Into the Black, a terrifying walkthrough haunt, made its debut at Fairplex in 2017 before moving to other locations in later years. This is probably the best scary Halloween event to ever take place at the venue.
After this, Halloween haunting became scare at Pomona Fairplex for several years. In 2018 and 2019, there were off-season events at the Los Angeles Fair in September, Haunted 66 and Zombie Escape. Halloween 2019 also featured Pumpkin Nights, a sort of in-house version of Rise of the Jack O’ Lanterns.
After the pandemic lockdown of 2020, it was not until Halloween 2023 that Pomona Fairplex offered another full-blooded Halloween scare event, Lights Out, which offered three walkthroughs (including the Zombie Escape maze from 2019), plus a wax works, a photo op graveyard, and a zombie shooting gallery.
Pomona Fairplex Photograph Gallery
